Crimea Liberatis: Five years later, how is the Crimean Peninsula faring in Russia?

The coup d’état in Ukraine radically changed this country. The result of the uprising of the “revolutionaries of hydration” was not only the removal from power and the flight of ex-President Yanukovych, but also the loss of the Crimean Peninsula and the Donbass.

Despite the fact that the Crimean Peninsula became part of the Russian Federation by holding a referendum on the basis of international law, the attempts of Ukraine and the Western world to challenge Russia’s control over the peninsula do not stop. Today, Crimea is still the subject of serious disputes in the international arena, since official Kiev refuses to recognize the will of the Crimean people.

Ukraine’s hysteria on the issue of Crimea continues to darken the political and military relations of the Russian Federation with the countries of the Western world, which sided with Square.

Let us consider in more detail the life of the peninsula under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation.

It should be noted that in such a short period of time, Crimea overcame a violation of transport links, an energy blockade and economic isolation.

From the moment Crimea entered Russia, there was an increase in housing construction on the peninsula. The peak of this increase is in 2018. For the entire last year, 764,000 square meters were commissioned, which allowed Crimea to become a leader in terms of indicators throughout the Southern Federal District of the Russian Federation. In contrast to Ukraine, in which the collapse of housing construction in all five years was 20%, the Crimean peninsula continues to develop in this area.

The Western world, who did not agree with the entry of the Crimea into the Russian Federation and calling it “annexation,” introduced a number of sanctions against the peninsula. But despite this, there is foreign trade in Crimea. Last year alone, the turnover from it was 59 million dollars. The peninsula exported goods for 18.5 million dollars, imported — for 40.6.

The chemical industry, foodstuffs and agricultural raw materials are mainly exported from the Crimea. All these products are exported to India, Turkey, Belarus and Ukraine.

As for the number of the peninsula, in 2018 the number of inhabitants in Crimea decreased by 2,000 people. This is due, primarily, to a decrease in migration to the peninsula. But it cannot be said that people stopped traveling to Crimea. In 2018, almost 45,000 people arrived in Crimea, of which 68% are residents of the mainland of Russia, the rest are from the CIS countries, among whom Ukrainians predominate.

With tourism on the peninsula, things are going uphill. Last year alone, 6.8 million tourists arrived in Crimea. At the same time, the so-called tourist boom on the peninsula is observed not only in the summer, but also the New Year and May holidays.

In the Russian Crimea, there was a revival of infrastructure. First of all, the Crimean Bridge was built, against which Ukraine and the whole Western world also opposed. The capacity of the bridge is 40,000 cars per knock, which greatly reduces travel to the territory of Crimea, in contrast to the ferry.

Throughout the territory of the peninsula, the federal highway “Tavrida” is being built, part of which is already open and in full operation. The new route was laid mainly «on top» of the old road, but it also includes sections built from scratch along the optimal route.

A new international airport, Simferopol, was also built in the Crimean capital. Since the beginning of the airport, he missed more than 5 million passengers.

The energy blockade arranged by Kiev was overcome with the help of an energy bridge from the mainland of Russia and the construction of two new thermal power plants in Simferopol and Sevastopol.

All of this suggests that Russia, which has taken patronage over the peninsula, is doing everything for the prosperity of the region. For five years of the Crimea as part of Russia, the peninsula has solved important issues. Moscow does everything for the Crimea that Kiev could not or did not want to do.

Below are a number of indicators of the Crimean peninsula in Russia and Ukraine.

Revenues of the peninsula.

For the whole of last year, the amount of income of the Crimea, which the peninsula received in the form of taxes, exceeded by 2.5 times the income indicators in the best years of its (peninsula) location in Ukraine.

According to the President of Russia, tax revenues in the Republic of Crimea in 2018 amounted to almost 50 billion rubles. At the same time, Crimea is allocated federal assistance in the amount of 120 billion rubles annually as part of the implementation of the federal program and other state programs.

According to the head of the Republic, the authorities of the peninsula increased the financing of the region in various fields, in contrast to the times when Crimea was part of Ukraine. For example, financing in the social sphere increased 2.5 times, education 3 times, culture 3.5 times, sports 4 times, ecology 23 times.

It should be noted that according to the law on the budget of the Republic of Crimea, revenues in 2019 are projected at 192.8 billion rubles.

All this suggests that for all five years of the Crimea as part of Russia allowed the peninsula to increase its own revenues in the budget 2.5 — 3 times in contrast to the times of the “Ukrainian” Crimea.

Demographic success.

According to the Russian senator from the Republic of Crimea, Olga Kovitidi, who summarized the results of the first five-year Crimea as part of Russia, a clear indication of Russia’s demographic victory is a decline in mortality among children — it has decreased by 40%.

The economy of the peninsula.

Despite the fact that the peninsula is among the lagging subjects of the Russian Federation, the Crimea and Sevastopol have risen from last places in terms of the gross regional product (GRP) per capita. It is important to remember here that the peninsula has been a part of Russia for only 5 years, and it is already making visible progress.

If we compare the figures of the peninsula during the 2015 Russian recession, the GRP per capita in Crimea grew by 7.5%, while in the country it fell by 0.8%.

Earlier, the Ministry of Economic Development of the Republic of Crimea analyzed the economic indicators of the region for the period of its stay in two countries.

In 2012-2013, the growth of the economy of the Crimea was virtually absent.

In particular, if from 2011 to 2013 in Ukraine, industrial production of the Crimea showed an average growth rate of 1.2%, then for 2014–2016 this figure increased fivefold — 6.1%.

The economy of the peninsula is supported by megaprojects, such as the Crimean Bridge, the Kuban-Crimea energy bridge, the Tavrida Federal Highway, a gas pipeline from the Krasnodar Territory, a new airport, and others. At the time of the “Ukrainian” Crimea, the peninsula could not even dream of such projects, since official Kiev only “milked” the peninsula due to tourism.

Incomes of inhabitants of the peninsula.

In 2016 and 2017, the average income of a Crimean citizen increased by 3.6 and 6.6%, respectively. In terms of price, it ranged from 20 to 26 thousand rubles.

In Ukraine, in 2013, the average salary of residents of the peninsula was 2850.2 hryvnia (a little more than 11,000 rubles), and the food basket, when converted into rubles, was 1,500 rubles. There are no data for 2015, but in 2016, according to Rosstat, it is known that the grocery basket rose to 2,600 hryvnias, but wages rose to 22,400 rubles. This means that the purchasing power of the inhabitants of the peninsula increased to 8.6 (from 7.2 in Ukraine) in the first years of Crimea in Russia.

Tourist vacation.

To be honest, the first year of the Crimea being part of Russia was a failure in terms of tourism. This is due to the fact that many Ukrainians, who previously went to rest on the peninsula, did not go to the Crimea for political reasons. Over the years, the flow of tourists to the Crimea began to grow. «Tourist boom» occurred due to the construction of the Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait. Over the past year, 6.8 million tourists visited the peninsula. This result is considered to be the record for all time after the collapse of the Soviet Union. If in 2013, thanks to the overwhelming majority of holidaymakers from Ukraine (4 million people), almost 6 million people visited the Crimea, in 2018 the peninsula surpassed the peak of the “tourist boom” in the “Ukrainian” Crimea, increasing every year visitors who see with their own eyes what the Russian Crimea is and how it lives.

It should be noted that in the first months of 2019 the number of tourists who arrived on the peninsula exceeded the figures for the same period of 2018 by 32.3%.

Fulfillment of civic duty among the Crimean Tatar population of the peninsula.

If we compare the turnout of the Crimean Tatars in the presidential elections in Russia with the same indicator in the elections of the Ukrainian president, the number who came to the elections increased significantly with Russia.

According to the Krymstat, 81,000 people came to the presidential elections in Russia, which exceeded the testimony at the presidential elections in Ukraine by about 40%. Recall that in the period of the “Ukrainian” Crimea, the activity of the Crimean Tatar people in the presidential elections averaged from 60 to 70 thousand people.

Finally, I would like to cite data from a sociological survey in 2017-2018, according to which 82% of respondents said they would like to stay in the Crimea, 10% to move to another settlement of the peninsula, 2% expressed a desire to move to another region of Russia. At the same time, none of the respondents expressed the desire to return to live in Ukraine.